On Friendship (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) [Mass Market Paperback]

Michel de Montaigne (Author), M. A. Screech (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2005

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are. Michel de Montaigne was the originator of the modern essay form; in these diverse pieces he expresses his views on relationships, contemplates the idea that man is no different from any animal, argues that all cultures should be respected, and attempts, by an exploration of himself, to understand the nature of humanity.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne, was born in 1553. He retired in 1571 to his lands at Montaigne, devoting himself to reading and reflection and composing his Essays (first version, 1580). He died at Montaigne in 1592 while preparing the final, and richest, edition of his Essays. M.A. Screech is an Extraordinary Fellow of Wolfson College and an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He has edited and translated both the complete edition and a selection of the Essays for Penguin Classics and, in a separate volume, Montaigne's sceptical Apology for Raymond Sebond. His other books include Erasmus: Ecstasy and the Praise of Folly, Rabelais, Montaigne and Melancholy, and, most recently, Laughter at the Foot of the Cross. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143036297
• ISBN-13: 978-0143036296
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Relationships > General
  • #71 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Ancient
  • #79 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > French

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Montaigne's "dialogue of the mind with itself.", March 26, 2006

By 

G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Friendship (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

He said "the greatest thing in the world is to know how to be oneself." French Renaissance thinker and humanist, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-92), is credited with creating the personal essay as a new literary genre, and is best-known for the work of his curious mind, ESSAIS (1572-80; 1588). Born into a wealthy Bordeaux family, he lived a life that was well traveled (as set forth in his TRAVEL JOURNAL), well read, well educated (first at the college de Guyenne in Bordeaux and later at the University of Toulouse, where he studied law), and well experienced in excess. His writings influenced Shakespeare, Bacon, Matthew Arnold, Blaise Pascal, Rene Descartes ("I think, therefore I am"), and Emerson.

In an age of exploration, Montaigne was truly a man of his time. In his writing, he epitomizes what it means to be human, searching for the truth in his own nature, habits, and opinions, as well as those of others. Read as a whole, his writing moves from stoicism (influenced by Seneca), to Renaissance skepticism, to acceptance of all that life has to offer, and to Roman Catholicism. (Like Thomas a Kempis, Montaigne believed there was a "plague upon man, the opinion that he knows something," which prevents him from knowing God's wisdom. He believed man is, in fact, no better than a beast.) He also believed in cultural relativism, and his essays examine such various subjects as friendship, conversation, idleness, pain, memory loss, death, marriage, raising children, beautiful women, liars, witches, warmongers, how to read well, education, sex and impotence, and even his cat. This edition offers a brief introduction to Montaigne, from which readers might consider either Penguin's COMPLETE ESSAYS (1993) or The Everyman's Library COMPLETE WORKS (2003) for further reading. (It should be noted that this review refers to the 2005 Penguin Great Ideas edition of ON FRIENDSHIP, translated by M. A. Screech, which includes the essays, "On Friendship," "On the Art of Conversation," "On Idleness," "On the Affection of Fathers for Their Children," "On Moderation," and "That We Shall Not Be Deemed Happy Until After Our Death.")

G. Merritt

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book of philosophy, July 24, 2008

By 

Steve Burns (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: On Friendship (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

This material was written by Michel de Montaigne in the sixteenth century. It is a collecton of seven philophical essays. One is devoted to each of the following subjects: friendship, not being judgemental, the art of conversation, idleness, paternal affection towards their children, moderation, the nature of happiness while living.
I found this to be a very easy to read and enlightening collection of philosophy, that I believe you will enjoy also. The author of this work was very influential to many thinkers through out the centuries down to our time. This book was cited by a recent book I read by Joseph Epstein, Friendship, an expose.

"When the soul is without a definite aim she gets lost; for, as they say, if you are everywhere you are nowhere."

"I hold that you will never achieve by force what you cannot achieve by reason, intelligence and skill."

If you enjoyed the above examples you will love this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great classic in wonderful presentation., July 21, 2008

By 

Andrew J. Degnan (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On Friendship (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like all of the other Penguin Classic Books series, this text is absolutely gorgeous and significant, inside and out. The cover is lushly decorated and the writing is a classic work that is an easy read. This is a definite must for one's personal library.